


Me Molemmat

by ThoseDaysThatWill



Series: The Organizations [12]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Organized Crime, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Off-Screen Murder, On-Screen Murder, Prequel, Terrible Parents, heavy but hopeful if that's a thing, rough home life but they find each other, they're gangsters they're not fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-21
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:29:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27654835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThoseDaysThatWill/pseuds/ThoseDaysThatWill
Summary: When the small pile of dirty wrinkled clothes breathed, Esa startled. He moved close enough to see a mop of dirty blonde hair and realized that it was another kid, probably younger than himself. "Do you want some candy?" Those were the first words Esa ever said to him.
Series: The Organizations [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1452790
Comments: 4
Kudos: 5





	Me Molemmat

**Author's Note:**

> This is a prequel to [Uskollisuus](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20470499), explaining in detail the events of the second paragraph. And also includes elements both implied and discussed in Hannah's [And Here’s The Tragedy](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22590496) and [You’re Not Allowed To Save Him](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26573086). 
> 
> Thank you to Caixxa, for help with small details. 💙
> 
> More than half the credit for everything here goes to Hannah, and it's of course dedicated to her. 💜

The first time Esa met Teuvo they were nine years old. 

Esa's parents worked in the Organization since before he was born. Everyone in their apartment building did or had some connection. It would have been a dangerous place to live if you didn't. Esa's parents were loan sharks, but not on the street level, they were the ones that collected the money and figured the vig and sent the large individual with the lead pipe to meet non-payers in dark alleys. They were one step above the guy with the pipe but not important to anyone except those who were in debt to them. 

Esa hated them both. Not because they were in crime, he didn't really care what they did for a living. He hated them because they wanted him to grow up to be 'more' than them, so every time he seemed to do something wrong, something they thought was wrong, they were sure that _beating_ it out of him would help. "It's for your own good," his mother would say every time. They were teaching him, molding him. All they taught him was pain and all they molded him into was a child that knew how to hide. When he heard them coming home, especially if they sounded drunk, Esa would grab anything he could fit into a little backpack and he'd sneak down to the building's basement to hide from them. 

That was where he first met Teuvo. Another little boy hiding from terrible parents. Teuvo was small, malnourished, and curled into a ball so tightly that Esa almost missed him. When the small pile of dirty wrinkled clothes breathed, Esa startled. He moved close enough to see a mop of dirty blonde hair and realized that it was another kid, probably younger than himself. "Do you want some candy?" Those were the first words Esa ever said to him. 

Teuvo picked his head up just a little and looked at him curiously. He didn't say anything, just shrugged like he wasn't sure if that was something good or bad, if he should want it or not. Esa held out his hand, three red gummy fish on the palm and waited for Teuvo to examine them before he took them and ate all three at once. The look on his face, Esa thought, was supposed to be a smile, but he clearly wasn't familiar with the feeling. He uncurled a little more, sitting up, wrapping his arms around his legs. Esa sat down near him but not too close. 

"Do you live in the building too?" Esa asked, holding out the bag of gummies to him. 

The boy nodded, but stopped short of taking another one, "What do I hafta do?" 

Esa looked at him curiously, "What do you mean?" 

"If you give me that, do I hafta be nice to you?" He pulled his legs closer, blocking his body from view. 

Esa understood what he meant. He wasn't asking about being _nice_ as in friendly, he was asking about something that even at nine he knew kids like them shouldn't know about. He didn't have firsthand experience but he'd heard enough talk to be glad that he didn't. He shook his head, "You don't hafta do anything. I'm sharing. My name is Esa, what's yours?" 

The boy looked at him, probably trying to decide if he could trust him. Esa always wondered what he saw in that moment, because he did see _something_ and he nodded. Finally, he took three more gummies from the bag and said, "Teuvo." 

Esa smiled at him, "Hi, Teuvo. Do you like to be called Teukka?" 

Teuvo shook his head fast, "Hate it. It's what _they_ call me when they want me to be nice." 

"I'll call you Teuvo." Esa handed him the rest of the bag, and watched him gobble them all down almost at once. "When was the last time you ate?" 

Teuvo shrugged, "Day before yesterday, I think. They spend their money on stuff to smoke, not food." 

Esa shook his head, "I'll bring you food. I promise."

Teuvo tried to give him a smile again, and lifted his head up, moving his legs to cross in front of him, opening himself up a little more, and Esa couldn't help but smile back at the show of trust. And he couldn't let that down. As often as he could, he stole food from the kitchen and stuffed it into his little backpack to bring to Teuvo when he could. Whatever Esa gave him, he ate. He always offered to share with him, but Esa turned him down, his parents might hit him, but they did feed him. The same couldn't be said for Teuvo's parents. Nothing good could be said for Teuvo's parents, Esa came to find out. 

When Esa brought toys to the basement to share with Teuvo, they were the first toys Teuvo had ever seen. Esa's parents liked to make a show of buying him things in shops that belonged to people that owed them money. It was small-time posturing and even young Esa knew enough to be embarrassed by it, but every time he got a new toy, he snuck it down to the basement for Teuvo to play with. They spent as much time in that basement as they could get away with, usually until Esa's parents came looking for him and reminded him that "The Teräväinen boy is no good, just like his junkie parents." Esa defended Teuvo the first time they said that, that was also the first black eye he ever received. After that Teuvo told him not to bother defending him, they were right anyway. Esa disagreed, and told him flat out he would defend him every time. He had a lot of black eyes over the years.

Esa held an ice pack to one eye, and watched Teuvo devour a cheese sandwich with the other. It was hard to miss how much smaller Teuvo was than him, and he thought that meant he was younger, but he never _seemed_ younger, though Esa didn't really know what that meant. He knew he was tall for his age, maybe Teuvo was just short for his. "How old are you?" 

Teuvo paused his chewing and thought about it. After a moment, he asked, "How old are _you_?" 

"Nine and a half," Esa answered right away. He had celebrated his birthday every year that he could remember, with presents and cake. He never understood how his parents could be so awful to him sometimes and so good to him other times. It always kept him on edge. Sometimes he wished they were just awful all the time, at least he'd know what to expect. 

Teuvo considered that and nodded, "Then I'm nine and a half too." He didn't know when his birthday was, but since they met in late June, that was the day they picked to celebrate it. Esa's birthday was just the month before, and they liked them being close together like that. The only birthday presents Teuvo ever received were from Esa, but that didn't seem to bother him. Esa noticed that he carried around with him everything Esa gave him, so he got in the habit of giving him small things that he could fit in his pockets.

When Esa noticed that Teuvo was always in the same clothes, he brought him some of his. The pants wouldn't stay up, but Teuvo loved the t-shirts and hoodies that were too big for him. Esa watched him pull the sleeves over his hands and the hood over his head and he almost disappeared in the black fabric, just like he wanted to do. After a little while, he'd return the shirts to Esa, no explanation, but the moment he held them he knew why. They reeked of chemical smoke and filth, the same way Teuvo's parents' apartment did. Esa would wash them, wear them for a day, and give them back to Teuvo. He tried to give them back without wearing, but Teuvo always seemed a little disappointed if he did that. 

Pulling the hoodie over his head, Teuvo gave him that almost-a-smile, "You fixed it!" 

Making Teuvo happy made Esa feel like a hero. Teuvo wouldn't tell him what happened up in his parents' apartment, but whatever it was drove him to hide in the basement as much as he could get away with. Teuvo didn't want to be touched, but on the worst nights, the only way he could sleep was to curl into a tight ball between Esa and the cement wall. Sometimes when he thought Teuvo had fallen asleep, Esa would pet his hair, as he wanted to do while he was awake. He hoped it was soothing even if he was asleep. Teuvo never mentioned it, but Esa always thought it made him smile in his sleep.

They were twelve the day Teuvo showed up at his apartment with the hood pulled over his head and the gun in his hand. 

A few days before, Esa was sitting on the floor in their nest of stolen blankets, covered in bruises, cradling a wrist that was either sprained or broken, with one eye sporting a yellowing bruise and the other one that was just starting to purple. He couldn't curl up, he was in too much pain, and there were tracks of tears down both his cheeks. It was never this bad for him. For Teuvo, this was almost typical of a bad time with his parents, but Esa's usually knew when to stop. This night, they didn't stop, because this night he had made a stand.

Teuvo knelt in front of him, his eyes wide. Esa bowed his head and didn't speak. They stayed like that for a long moment. It was Esa that spoke first, "They wanted me to go after a guy that wasn't paying, they gave me a metal pipe to use. Someone shot the guy they used to have doing that for them. I told them no, that I didn't want to do that. They told me I'm not allowed to say no, that I'm nothing without them. And then they showed me." He sniffled a little, "I've never been hit with a pipe before." 

Teuvo's shoulders tensed and his eyes narrowed, "I hate them." 

They made the plan that night. They'd have to wait to pull it off, but that was fine. Teuvo would have liked to do it that night, but planning was better, Esa reminded him. Teuvo hadn't been living in his parents apartment for a while, so he knew where they'd run to after it was over. The squat wasn't much, but it was a lot better than living in fear. Esa had wanted to go with him the day he left, but he knew his parents would come looking for him and he couldn't risk the other kids in the squat if they called the police. He'd follow Teuvo there, but once everything was over. 

Esa had the bag ready the next day, everything of value he owned, which wasn't much, his warmest clothes, and all the food and money he could steal. It wouldn't last forever, but it would help for a little while. The bag was stuffed, and by his bedroom door, ready to grab. His parents decided that it was Teuvo's fault that Esa talked back to them and had locked him in the apartment until he changed his mind. Esa knew that when he didn't meet Teuvo down in the basement, that would be the sign. 

It was only a few days later that the pounding on the door came. He heard his father demand to know who was knocking and Esa felt something close to giddiness bubbling in his chest. No one knocked on their door, clients were never allowed to know where they lived. Esa knew who was at the door, so when he heard the gunshots, he wasn't afraid, even when he heard his mother scream. She ran past his bedroom, for the room farthest from the front door. She didn't bother to warn, no matter protect, her only child. Esa wasn't surprised. He stepped out of his bedroom, bag in hand, and watched Teuvo walk into the kitchen. Two more gunshots and then the smell of something burning. Esa didn't look into the kitchen, he didn't need to see it to know what had happened.

He followed Teuvo out of the apartment and down the stairs. He couldn't remember the last time the elevator worked, they didn't even bother to check it. Teuvo's parents' apartment was on the ground floor, the most dangerous part of the building, even with bars on the windows. The moment Teuvo unlocked the door the chemical smoke smell leached into the hallway and Esa struggled not to cough. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to follow him in or if he was going to get in the way so he waited in the doorway. 

Esa could see the whole small apartment from there, and honestly he wished he couldn't. There was nothing in the dingy dirty place worth looking at. He didn't let his eyes linger too long on what was happening on the sofa bed, but the noises were unmistakable even to his young ears. The gunshots put an end to them. Two for his father, two more for his mother, and then another two, and that's when Esa realized that wasn't his father on the bed with his mother. He didn't ask any questions but he got a few old ones answered in that moment. The smell of burning was his cue to head for the exit. 

Teuvo lead Esa to the abandoned building he'd been living in. The windows were cracked, the floorboards were warped and there was trash and bugs everywhere, but Esa could not have been happier to be there. The kids scattered around looked close to their age, maybe some older, some younger, it was hard to tell. None of them made direct eye contact and most of their faces were hidden under hoodies. There were some old mattresses, some piles of blankets and some kids huddled up on the floor. 

Esa watched Teuvo order a large blonde kid to take his stuff off the largest mattress in the place. The kid was about to object before another kid called him over to his mattress. They didn't know what Teuvo had just done and still they already knew better than to cross him. Esa watched Teuvo tattoo his own foot, five small dots for the five murders he'd just committed, and he didn't wonder why the other kids weren't willing to argue with him over a mattress. 

It was a lot for Esa, everything that had happened in the past hour combined with the way that everyone in the squat was purposefully not looking at them, but the place was so quiet, Esa thought he could hear the sirens off in the distance. It didn't mean that anyone had reported the fire, they heard sirens all the time and rarely were they rushing to _help_ anyone in their neighborhood. 

Teuvo told him the mattress was his, Esa pointed out that it was _theirs,_ and he sat down, rummaging through his bag. He couldn't begin to repay Teuvo for what he had just done for him, but he shoved the black hoodie at him anyway. He liked the way that Teuvo buried his face in the fabric right away, murmuring, "You fixed it," he had been thinking the same thing about everything Teuvo had done for him. He watched Teuvo exchange the hoodie he had been wearing for the Jokerit one, and Esa took the old one, until he could find a good time and place to burn it. The last bit of clothes that had that awful chemical smoke smell that Teuvo would ever wear, Esa promised silently. 

Esa wasn't sure when the ragtag group of homeless kids became a _crew_ nor how Teuvo became their leader, it all seemed to happen organically, like that was how things were supposed to be. Esa kept track of everyone, Teuvo gave out assignments. It started with petty crimes. Vandalism of stores that kicked them out when all they wanted was to be warm for a few minutes. Stealing food because they were all always hungry, or blankets because they were always cold, or cigarettes because that helped with both things, or at least they thought it did. 

A lot of street kids sold they only asset they brought with them when they ran, their bodies, but Teuvo didn't let his crew do that, because _he_ didn't want to do that, and he wouldn't make them do anything he wouldn't do. Esa always thought that was another reason they were so willing to follow him. Teuvo never took any interest in anything like that, even when Esa flirted with him, he was turned down firmly. There was only once that he seemed to bring that up.

They were sitting on the mattress in the squat, passing a cigarette between them waiting for the rain to stop. They had been silent and the question came out of nowhere. Teuvo asked, "Do I belong to you?"

Esa shook his head, he didn't like that word 'belong', it felt like ownership, like a pet, and Teuvo was nothing like that to him, he was almost exactly the opposite, an equal, his best friend, anything else he wanted to be. But never a pet. "You don't belong to anyone, you're your own person." 

Teuvo nodded, but didn't respond, and he never brought the question up again. 

Their life was mostly about surviving. Finding or stealing what they needed to stay alive and stay sane. Rich people throw away perfectly good things, they all knew, and so what they found in the trash was often a treasure trove. Everything that Esa and Teuvo owned was crammed into the bag Esa had taken with him the day they left. Everyone knew if you left something behind at the squat, it might not be there when they got back. Esa would test this theory sometimes, but no one ever touched anything left on _their_ mattress, though anyone else's was fair game. 

Teuvo found the guitar one night when they had to keep moving all night because it was too cold to sleep the overnight. It was clearly broken, but that didn't matter, all six strings were still attached and when he tried to play it, it did make a half decent sound. Teuvo wanted to give it to Esa, but Esa told him to keep it, he could see something in the way that Teuvo looked at the instrument and he wanted to see more of it. 

They took it back to the squat, but didn't go inside. Instead they found a place outside where the snow had cleared, that was far enough from everyone else for them not to make a fuss. Esa lit a cigarette and watched Teuvo try to figure out how to play. He didn't have the first clue what to do, but Esa reminded him that they'd seen someone play in a movie recently.

Movie theaters were one of the best places to stay warm and if they were very quiet, or hid in the bathroom at the right time, they could see a movie four or five times in a day. The movie itself didn't matter, the theater was heated, and sometimes people left snacks behind. Often Teuvo slept, curled up in the padded seat with Esa's hand on him so he knew he was right there, but at least one or two of the showings they would watch. 

That was the entertainment they had to fill the long boring days between jobs, the movies they could sneak into, or the TV they could watch in electronic stores, and Teuvo's guitar. Sometimes Esa found a book that someone had discarded and he would read to Teuvo while he played. His reading was better than Teuvo's guitar playing, but not by much unless the book was simple. Esa had more schooling that Teuvo, but that wasn't saying much. Esa was much better at numbers than words, but he didn't think Teuvo cared what he read to him, it was like singing along except that Esa didn't sing.

They were sixteen when the Swedes tried to move into their territory. 

As they got older, the petty theft and courier jobs turned into collections and other moneymakers, and the crew formalized under Teuvo's leadership and Esa's bookkeeping. Their territory wasn't big, but it was theirs and that was what mattered. Teuvo would get an order from the street boss, he'd dole the work out evenly. Esa would collect the money, hand it in, and dole out the cut just as evenly. Teuvo did just as many jobs as his crew, no more no less, and got the same cut, no more, no less. Everything was fair and no one dared try to cheat them, they couldn't find a better deal on any other crew and they didn't want to lose their place on his. 

Esa never understood why the Swedes would try to move in on Helsinki and he never did get a satisfactory answer to that question. The fact was that they were there and that was a problem. They weren't the only Swedes in the whole country, but if they wanted to stay in Teuvo's territory, they'd have to pay a cut to Teuvo. That's how things worked in his territory, Finnish, Swedish, or whatever. And for the most part, people understood that and paid. A cut of that went up the ladder, the rest was split among his crew. These Swedes though didn't seem to understand the process. 

Teuvo wanted to be the one to _explain_ things to them, but it was Esa that was called into Valtteri's office one afternoon, alone. Teuvo never liked Esa going anywhere alone, but didn't have any right to object, so he didn't, but he did pace the sidewalk outside the restaurant. Teuvo met with the street boss often, but Esa had never been called in like this. The meeting made Esa just as nervous, he was Teuvo's bookkeeper, not someone important enough to be given jobs directly, but he knew better than to refuse the meeting.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Esa remained standing, his hands clasped in front of him. 

Valtteri nodded giving him a slight smile, "I do. As I understand it, you are the most _diplomatic_ member of Teräväinen's crew." 

Esa thought about that for a moment and then nodded. He couldn't think of anyone else in their crew that didn't tend to punch first and ask questions second. Honestly, not many of their crew _bothered_ with the questions at all. Teuvo didn't like them to shoot unless they had to, but only because it was bad for repeat business, not because he was against murder. "I guess so, sir." 

"How's your Swedish?" 

Esa's parents did make him attend school, he went regularly for all the years he lived with them. After he left, he attended much less regularly. He liked school, but they also tended to ask too many questions, and he couldn't have that. He had stopped when he decided it was taking up too much time in his day, getting a free meal and heat wasn't worth having to waste time studying things that weren't relevant to his making money. And besides that, he didn't like having those things if Teuvo couldn't have them too and he never bothered with school. Out of their crew, Esa had attended the longest. "It's okay."

Valtteri nodded, apparently that was good enough for him to give Esa the job of _discussing_ with this new crew of Swedes the problem with them setting up shop in the middle of Helsinki without discussing things with the Finns that ran the territory. They were to pay up (extra because they were Swedish) or disband, no other options. Valtteri also explained that if the _discussion_ didn't work, the second option was to let Teuvo deal with them, and that was bound to be messy. Esa promised to do the best he could, but if they weren't open for _discussion_ , he'd let Teuvo know he was up. 

Two problems came out of the meeting with the Swedes. The second of the two was that the Swedes were not willing to disband, and since they paid a cut to their boss back in Gothenburg, they weren't interested in paying another cut to someone in Helsinki. That was the least surprising of the two things because Esa hadn't expected them to pay, he knew his crew wouldn't have paid even if they had the nerve to set up on Swedish soil. But that wasn't the biggest problem the meeting created. Teuvo would deal with them in his way and that would be done.The biggest problem was _John._

John was the first person that stood and met him when Esa walked into the warehouse. He held out his hand and introduced himself. Trying to keep the whole thing as blood-free as possible, Esa shook his hand and introduced himself in turn. The spark between them in that moment was unmistakable, and Esa _really_ wanted it to be a mistake. He'd made a mistake thinking there was something there between him and Teuvo, he wanted to be wrong here, too. But he knew he wasn't.

John smiled and invited Esa to sit, asked if he wanted a drink, like a charming host, not a sixteen year old kid in a dirty old warehouse. Esa refused both. He was there for a purpose, he reminded himself, not to be taken in by a cute Swede. 

The talk, on the Organizational side, was completely unproductive. They weren't going to pay and they weren't going to leave. Esa told John that he was inviting problem, and John just shrugged, and told him they'd deal with the problem. He told Esa he was under orders not to go back until his business was complete, though he wouldn't tell Esa _what_ his business was. He wasn't going to be able to finish it, Esa warned, but John wouldn't budge. 

On the personal side, though, Esa found himself drawn closer and closer to John, the only one of the lot that spoke. Another Swede about the same age stood slightly behind him, but close by, with his arms crossed, trying to look every bit the bodyguard he was pretending to be considering he was shorter and looked younger than his charge. Esa ignored him and his glares, but was always aware of how close his hands were to his gun. He thankfully never had cause to draw it. Even if the conversation was on a serious topic, the tone remained friendly and easy-going.

As John was walking Esa to the door, he asked, "Can I get your number, Mr. Lindell... in case I change my mind?" 

It was about the worst come-on that Esa had ever heard, but what was even worse was that it made him smile, "Or... you had any other reason to call me, Mr. Klingberg?"

John's smile widened, "Are you hoping I use it?" 

Esa didn't answer, because honestly he didn't know what he was hoping. Going on a date with a Swede was idiotic, but there was something there and he wanted to know what it was. He gave him the number of his burner phone and got the hell out of there. He couldn't stop thinking about John all the way back to the flophouse the crew rented as an upgrade from the squat. It sported the same mattresses and piles of blankets. The upgrade came from windows with glass, indoor plumbing, and a working heater when the power was on. It wasn't much of an upgrade but it meant the world to the crew that lived there. 

Teuvo jumped up the minute he walked in, and Esa explained to him that the Swedes didn't listen to him and that meant that, according to the boss, Teuvo could do whatever he thought best, short of murder, to get rid of them. Teuvo asked if they had 'bothered' him, and Esa shook his head, no. John _did_ bother him, but not for any kind of reason he was going to tell Teuvo about. He knew that Teuvo wasn't interested in him for himself, but that didn't mean that he'd ever be okay with Esa being interested in a Swede. He knew if the answer was 'yes', there was nothing he could have done to stop Teuvo from killing them all. 

Teuvo told him that he had a plan for if Esa's _talking_ didn't work, and he's ready to go that night. He told him that he could use Esa's help. Of course, Esa was more than willing to help him, he always was. It didn't matter what Teuvo's plan was, Esa would back his play like always. Esa showed him where the warehouse was, and Teuvo went to work very quickly. He had a knack for knowing where to start the fires, just a few small ones, that build up naturally on their own. It wasn't the first building he torched and it wouldn't be the last. It was meant as a second warning, to scare them out of the territory, but things don't always work out the way people want.

By the time they could hear the sirens, Teuvo and Esa were back at the flophouse, sitting on their mattresses, side by side. One siren wasn't much, especially in their neighborhood, but the longer they listened, the more they heard, and eventually Esa realized that it wasn't just fire trucks, the sound was police cars, and maybe even an ambulance. The building was supposed to have been empty, but they soon found out that it wasn't. Nothing told them the place was used for anything but storage, but there had been someone asleep in a back office. By the time they managed to put the fire out, he was barely identifiable.

Understandably, the Swedes were _angry._ They would have been mad about the fire, but the fact that one of theirs was taken meant that there would be a reprisal. They might not have known who started the fire, but they did know that Esa had tried to talk them into leaving, which made his crew the easiest target. They all knew it was coming and were on high alert as best they could. Esa didn't expect to hear from John, so when the +46 appeared before the number, he jumped to answer it.

"I know it wasn't you." John sounded very certain, "So I'm going to make sure you don't take the fall, but my people are angry and they want me to do _something_." 

Esa sighed, he knew John was taking a risk telling him anything, but that didn't mean he was going to _help_ him, "What do you want me to say?" 

"Nothing. Don't say anything, just lay low for the next couple days. That's all." John hung up abruptly, leaving Esa to wonder if he should tell Teuvo the truth about what just happened or try to come up with some other way to get him to lay low with him for the next couple days. It wasn't all that long of a thought, Teuvo wouldn't believe that John would warn them for anything other than a trick, but Esa knew better. He knew something had passed between them during the meeting, and John wanted to know what it was as much as Esa did.

He didn't say anything directly to Teuvo, there was already a feeling among their crew that something was going to happen. No one knew what it was, but those that had been on the streets for years got the sense that the smart move was to wait rather than act. Teuvo hated that feeling, Esa knew well, but he also listened to it. He didn't have to wait long, it was the next day that the hit happened. Two of their crew, guys that hadn't been around since the early days of the squat, hadn't read the feeling of the place or listened to those that could, and had spent the night drinking in a bar, hadn't come back by sunrise. 

It wasn't that Teuvo cared about _them_ per se, he didn't even know more than their names, and their deaths were reprisal for what he'd started by burning the warehouse down, but that didn't matter. Two of his crew were gone and the Swedes would pay for it, and pay dearly. Esa couldn't argue it and he didn't want to either. Teuvo had to stand up for their people, there was no other option. He knew what he would do would be big and dramatic, a sign that no matter what they do, hurting his crew was a death sentence. And Esa also knew what he had to do. John had warned him about their reprisal, he couldn't do any less than the same thing for him. 

He hoped the number he'd called him from wasn't a burner and dialed it back. He was almost surprised when John answered. "You need to get out of Finland." 

John sighed, "We've been over this--"

Esa cut him off, "No, you need to get _out_ or they'll be sending you back in a box. I can't tell you more, you just need to..." He felt strange telling him to trust him at the same time that he was telling him that his crew was about to die and he couldn't stop it. "You need to trust me. Leave. But don't take your people. If you all leave, he will hunt you all down. Save yourself." 

John did say anything for a moment, "Thank you." 

Esa could hear clearly in his voice he didn't know what he was going to do, but he couldn't worry about that. He hung up without saying anything and deleted all evidence of the phone call from his phone, as if that could erase the fact he went behind Teuvo's back to save a Swede. He didn't consider it a betrayal, he wasn't going to stop Teuvo from getting their revenge, he just wanted to see what might happen with John and nothing would if Teuvo shot him. 

The next morning, Teuvo gave the order to everyone on their crew, if they saw anyone from the Swedish crew, they were to shoot on sight. But he wasn't going to wait for them to happen upon them one by one. The first one he came upon, he followed back to a small house and cased it long enough to know that they all seemed to be staying there together. The raid was swift and brutal, Esa watched the door, and Teuvo didn't leave a single witness. He complained all the way back to the squat that two of them were missing, but he didn't know their names so he knew he wouldn't be able to find them. It sent the message all the same, Swedes didn't try to set up shop in Teuvo's territory again. 

It was less than a week later that Teuvo was called in for his first ever meeting with the boss of the entire city. Esa had no idea, as he watched Teuvo put on his best clothes, and walked with him to the building where Kimmo kept his office, how much this moment would change the rest of their lives. 


End file.
